Decisions Over Tea
by Rikaeus
Summary: Portgas D. Ace is very thankful when he finds out that best friend/brother? isn't dead when his savior, Monkey D. Dragon, returns with him. However, after mulling over a cup of tea he comes to a decision, he doesn't want to lose his loved ones again. So, Ace finally gives in and agrees to let Luffy be captain, not wanting to let him or Sabo out of his sights! ASL!Crew DF!Luffy
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my new story, Decisions Over Tea! This story goes over a what-if scenario if Dragon had brought Sabo back and Ace thought really hard on the previous events! This will be an Ace/Sabo/Luffy story with a different devil fruit Luffy. Also, because the trio will be leaving when** _ **Ace and Sabo**_ **turn 17 not Luffy, it'll be following a slightly different set of events. Sure there'll still be canon events but they'll be different since it's three years early. Hopefully you guys enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't Own One Piece**

 **Decisions Over Tea**

Ace was currently looking over his two brothers, Sabo and Luffy. It was night time and the two boys were asleep but Ace was still awake, thinking of what had happened that day. The day had started out a bit hectic. Ace was still trying to think of ways to rescue Sabo from his father who had kidnapped the boy a week ago. So far, he had no plan whatsoever and his little brother Luffy was getting antsier and antsier. Though, to be honest, Ace was as well. Then the two of them had to go down to Gray Terminal which ended up making them run into Bluejam. The man somehow convinced them to set these barrels around Grey Terminal. These barrels turned out to be gunpowder and oil which Bluejam used to set the entirety of Gray Terminal on fire. Luffy and Sabo ended up trapped in the fire and tried to escape, only getting stopped by Bluejam. After Bluejam said something about Sabo that pissed Ace off, something happened that caused all of Bluejam's crew, save Bluejam himself, to be knocked unconscious. That caused Bluejam to go crazy and attack them. Thankfully though Dandan, their foster mother and leader of the Mountain Bandits, saved them. Dandan and Ace fought off Bluejam while Luffy and the other bandits escaped.

Ace was really happy that Luffy was able to escape because the boy wasn't the best fighter. Sure, he could throw a punch well but he couldn't fight well with a pipe. It was times like then that Ace wished the boy _had_ eaten the Devil Fruit that the man Shanks had. Sure, it'd have turned him into rubber but that'd mean that he wouldn't have the scars from the torture that Porchemy had inflicted on him months ago, because rubber doesn't scar. Speaking of said scars, Ace sighed and traced the jagged marks that were littered around Luffy's body. Back to the fight with Bluejam, it was a hard fight but Ace and Dandan managed to beat him.

Later when they returned to the bandits' place Dogura had come and told them he saw Sabo get shot down. Ace was furious and attacked the man, resulting in them needing to chain him up. That was until two people had come to the bandits' place, one of them carrying an unconscious Sabo.

"Can't sleep Ace-boy?" A large male with a purple afro wearing a gray cloak spoke, getting Ace's attention.

"Mhm, not at all Ivankov-san." Ace said with a sigh.

Ivankov gave the boy a sad smile and directed him to the kitchen at the bandits' place. Dandan had insisted that they stay here for a few days, unwilling to admit that she didn't want to let them out of her sights, lest they get hurt again. There, Ivankov started preparing some tea with ingredients he had brought. Ivankov, or Emporio Invankov, was one of the two people who had returned with Sabo. The other was Dragon, or Monkey D. Dragon, Luffy's father and leader of the Revolutionaries. According to Dragon, they had been there to help evacuate people from Gray Terminal and had happened upon Sabo. With the help of Ivankov's Devil Fruit, the Horu Horu no Mi, they managed to stabilize him.

 _"But how did you know to bring him here?" Ace had asked the tattooed and cloaked man._

 _Dragon chuckled at that, his laughter bringing a sense of warmth to Ace just like Luffy's cheerful laughter did._

 _"Before he was completely unconscious he said yours and Luffy's names. And since I keep an eye on my son, I knew to bring him here." Dragon said._

 _Ace smiled at that, realizing that Sabo really did care for the both of them._

After having that conversation Dragon told them that he was leaving Ivankov with them for a few weeks so that he could make sure that Sabo wouldn't relapse with his injuries. At first Dandan had refused but Dragon seemed to have the same intimidating presence as his father because she quickly agreed after he glared at her. Shaken out of his thoughts, Ivankov handed Ace the cup of tea.

"I don't think tea's going to help me." Ace said.

Ivankov gave a soft laugh before shaking his head.

"It's a special recipe from my Kingdom. It's called Hormone Tea vith Mint. It'll ease you into a sleepy state and vill make it much easier for you to fall asleep." Ivankov said.

Ace shrugged his shoulders and accepted the cup before taking a sip. Instantly his taste buds lit up at the beyond delicious taste that caused a moan to slip out. That caused Ivankov to outright laugh and Ace to blush. Ivankov however shook his head afterwards before speaking.

"Don't vorry, that's everyone's first reaction to it. The Attack Cuisines of Kamabakka Kingdom are known to be the most delicious recipes in the vorld. Vell, next to dishes prepared vith fish from the All Blue." Ivankov said.

"Attack Cuisines?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow.

He had never heard of something like that. Then again, Sabo was the reader of the group, with Luffy coming second by reading books he thought were 'cool', and Ace third by only reading if he had to. Though it kinda irked him because that meant _technically speaking_ Luffy was smarter than Ace. How would that be when his brother acted dumb a lot? Well, the books that Luffy tended to find cool were science books. The boy _really_ liked experimenting. That thought caused Ace to shudder, drawing a raised eyebrow from Ivankov.

"Sorry, just remembered an incident with Luffy involving him flooding the room with foam. Can you explain what Attack Cuisines are?" Ace said, shuddering again.

That day was a bad day for Ace and Sabo, that foam got _everywhere_. Ivankov just chuckled before speaking.

"There are ninety-nine Attack Cuisine recipes. Each recipe has a designated effect. But people can only learn them if they go through Bride Training and master Okama Kenpo." Ivankov said.

That's right, Ace remembered, the man in front of him was an Okama. More specifically the Queen of the Okama. He didn't know that Okamas had a fighting style though, that was interesting. Ace took another sip of his tea, sighing at the taste. He could feel himself slowly getting sleepy. Judging by how long it was taking, it would be about thirty minutes before he fell asleep. Ivankov took this time to ask Ace a question.

"So, what were you thinking about?" Ivankov asked, curious about the boy that his boss' son had grown attached to.

Ace sighed at that before swishing the tea in his cup.

"I was thinking about the clusterfuck that was today. I realized something." Ace said.

"Oh? And what did you realize?" Ivankov said.

Ace turned his eyes in the direction of the room that he and the other two boys were staying in before a sad look appeared on his face.

"I almost lost both of my brothers today. Luffy with Bluejam and Sabo with that stupid Celestial Dragon and his father. I would have been alone again had they died." Ace said.

Ace then chuckled, remembering what Luffy had told him the day they became brothers.

"Did you know my brother, Luffy, has a fear of being alone? He says that being alone is far worse than being hurt. I came so close to knowing that feeling." Ace said, taking another sip of the tea.

Ivankov frowned at that. Nobody just develops a fear of being alone out of nowhere.

"How did Luffy-boy develop this fear?" Ivankov said, worried for Dragon's son.

Ace sighed before speaking.

"Apparently shitty gramps wasn't there that often for him, being called in by the Marines. So, Lu was often left alone in a big house. Sure, he occasionally saw Makino and there was Shanks but it wasn't enough for him because he always had to go back to an empty home. It got worse when he was forced to move up here." Ace said.

Remembering that desperate look on Luffy's face when he told Sabo and Ace his fears made his heart clench. He didn't want to see that look ever again. A few seconds later Ace had a contemplative look on his face.

"You know we were each going to set out on our own when we turned seventeen but…" Ace trailed off.

"But what?" Ivankov asked.

"Well, I'm figuring that maybe instead we should all set off when me and Sabo turn seventeen." Ace said.

Ivankov was a bit startled at that and for good reason.

"But Luffy-boy would only be fourteen by then. That's a bit too young for him to set out." Ivankov said.

Ace smiled at the okama before speaking.

"I know but I can't stand to be separated from him. If it comes to it, me and Sabo will protect him." Ace said with a determined look.

"But who would be the captain?" Ivankov asked.

Ace faltered for a second at that before reaffirming his decision with a statement.

"It'll be Luffy. All my dream was to become a famous pirate, I can do that without being captain. Sabo's was to explore the world, which he doesn't need to be captain to do so." Ace said.

Ivankov raised a brow at that.

"Luffy? Why him?" Ivankov asked.

Ace smiled wistfully.

"Lu's dream is to be Pirate King, he can't be it if he's not the captain, right?" Ace said.

That caused Ivankov to laugh out loud before smiling. He then noticed that Ace was starting to nod off due to the hormone tea. Ivankov picked Ace up and carried him to the bedroom, despite his protests, and laid him right by Luffy. Ace quickly wrapped his arms around Luffy, his arms joining Sabo's who was cuddling Luffy from the back. Somehow sensing Ace's presence, Luffy nuzzled into Ace's chest.

"Ace please don't leave." Luffy mumbled in his sleep.

Ace smiled at the boy as he himself was falling asleep.

"I won't ever leave you Lu." Ace said, slowly falling asleep, his face in Luffy's hair.

As Dragon said, Ivankov left a few weeks later. Of course, in those few weeks Ace proposed his idea to Luffy and Sabo. Both boys readily agreed to it, Luffy bouncing up and down in joy, Sabo and Ace sending him fond looks. Before Ivankov left, the okama reasoned two things: one, they needed to understand how to create a ship large enough for them at least until they could get a new one and two, they needed to be able to make food for themselves until they found a chef. So, Ivankov left them with two things. The first was a very detailed book on shipwright mechanics and the second was one Attack Recipe, Hormone Soup with Fish. This was a lower level Attack Cuisine that Ivankov didn't mind teaching the kids. This was because the chefs of the Revolutionary army knew this recipe as well. Why? Well, the point of the dish was to fill a person up really fast and such a dish was needed when you had Dragon as a leader. The man was very much like his son in the fact that he ate a lot. The ingredients were also really simple and stored really well. The three boys accepted the gifts with grace, Makino's lessons with Ace having improved his ability to be polite.

Since the boys had seven years before they needed to set sail they focused on training and studying about the Grand Line. At first Luffy had refused, saying it'd get rid of the adventure but Sabo managed to convince him by saying he's better prepared than his nakama dead. After that Luffy read every book about the Grand Line he could and ended up knowing more about the place than Ace and Sabo. In fact, it was Luffy who found out that they needed a special type of compass in order to navigate the Grand Line. He also, thankfully, had found out that Loguetown, the place where Gol D. Rogers was born and died as well as the town just before the Grand Line, sold them there. Ace of course was about to throw a fit about having to go to a place concerning his father but… he sucked it up for Luffy. Especially when he saw the awe and desire in Luffy's eyes to see the place. If it was for Luffy then he'd do it. Blue, did the two of them spoil their little brother.

Of course, on top of learning everything about the Grand Line, they also started their work on the ship that they'd be using. The first thing was that they'd have to learn how to make a ship so they studied the book that Ivankov left them. Then they made sure to get some wood from the forest. Though, for every tree they cut down, Luffy made them plant a seed in the empty spot. Building the boat ended up taking four to five of those seven years but it was worth it. It was large enough to fit four people but to be honest, they only planned on using one of the rooms as they were going to sleep in the same room. The other rooms were for if they recruited anybody before they got a better ship. And knowing their little brother, they probably would.

Obviously, they weren't only just building a boat. They were also training, specifically they were training Luffy. If Luffy was going to survive as a pirate, then he needed to get better so they trained him without mercy. Though that's not to say they were worse than Garp. No, not at all, rather they were much better than shitty gramps. Gramps just tossed you into battle and expected you to sink or swim. What Ace and Sabo did was constantly have Luffy going through the motions of a fighting style as well as exercising to get better muscles. The way it was without mercy was that they'd have him do it until he was out of energy and for Luffy that was a while. Though, Luffy didn't mind at all because after he was exhausted he got to cuddle with his brothers who went over how he did. Plus! He was getting much stronger! He could actually take down a crocodile without getting eaten!

On top of training, they also were increasing their pirate fund even more by stealing from the Nobles who had begun dumping their junk in Gray Terminal once more. Of course, Sabo couldn't return to High Town because his parents thought he was dead. So instead, Ace and Luffy were the ones who headed to High Town while Sabo explored Gray Terminal. Overall, they actually were doing pretty good with money. By the time they had finished their ship they had like three chests filled with jewels, paper money, and all kinds of other valuable items.

Though, one day, about three years before they turned seventeen, Sabo had brought a newspaper that he wanted Ace to see. Staring back at Ace was a headline that had him wanting to protect his brother even more.

 _Dragon the Revolutionary Declared World's Most Dangerous Criminal!_

It was official, Luffy would be killed as well if anyone found out who his father was. They had tried explaining it to Luffy but he didn't fully understand. The most he understood was that he wasn't to tell anyone of his parentage unless he _fully_ trusted him. The fact that Luffy would be hunted down would be a point of contention between Ace and Garp, specifically a few months after that came out.

"You three are becoming Marines and that's final!" Garp roared at Ace.

"No we won't!" Ace shouted back.

He was getting sick and tired of the old man demanding that they become Marines. Becoming Marines wouldn't make them safe no matter how much shitty gramps wanted to believe it.

"If we become Marines and they find out who we are they'll execute us! Do you really want to have that happen shitty gramps?!" Ace shouted.

That caused Garp to stagger and Sabo to nod, agreeing with what Ace said. Ace, noticing he gained some edge in their verbal confrontation, he continued.

"The moment that those people of the so called ' _Absolute Justice'_ that you've told us about find out who we are we're dead. They'll throw us in Impel Down before scheduling a public execution date!" Ace continued.

Garp weakly tried to argue back.

"But as pirates you'll still be executed." Garp said.

Ace shook his head at that.

"We may but at least we'll have a chance to fight back. As Marines we wouldn't even be given the chance." Ace said.

That seemed to take the fight out of Garp before he sighed. The man then stood straight up and gave them a sharp look.

"Alright, but if you're going to be Pirates then you're going to be damn good pirates. So I'll train you in the ways of the Marines." Garp said, causing all three boys to gulp as Garp started on them.

Thus started Garp's real training of the three boys. He introduced them to two things, Haki, which wasn't Marine exclusive, and Rokushiki, which was. He explained to them about Kenbunshoku Haki, Busoshoku Haki, and Haoshoku Haki. It was safe to say that Garp was shocked when Ace relayed what happened with Bluejam, which showed that Ace had Haoshoku Haki. They later found out that Sabo and Luffy had Haoshoku Haki as well when Ace nearly got killed by the Beast King. Their combined Haki managed to scare it away. Garp, of course, was very proud of them for all three having a rare skill.

In terms of proficiency, when they started out Luffy was unsurprisingly better than the other two when it came to Haoshoku Haki. Unsurprisingly because Haoshoku was based on willpower and Luffy had that in boatloads. The kid was just really eager to be learning the skill that Garp explained Shanks had used to save him. What was surprising though was Luffy's talent for Kenbunshoku Haki. The kid unlocked it much earlier than the other two and had quickly got a handle on it. It got to the point that if Luffy focused on someone he could briefly feel their emotions. If he didn't focus on a specific person he could sense a large radius, his current max by the time he hit fourteen being about half of Dawn Island which was a lot.

For Sabo his proficiency was a tad bit more different. As someone who would like to negotiate more than fight it was no surprise that his talents concerning Haki were focused on Kenbunshoku and Haoshoku with Busoshoku going last. Sure, his Kenbunshoku wasn't as good as Luffy's, though to be honest Garp said that nobody's but a rumored few would be as good as his, but it was still better than Ace's. With Haoshoku he was tied with Ace, both having the same amount of talent in the skill.

Ace's proficiency, like Sabo's and Luffy's was very much catered to his personality. As a person who wouldn't back down from a fight and would defend everyone with all his might, his specialty was Busoshoku Haki with Haoshoku second, and again, tied with Sabo. Ace unlocked Busoshoku Haki pretty fast, though it probably had to do with the amount of times he forced Garp to fight him. But to Ace all the pain was worth it if he could protect his little brother. His Haoshoku, like said earlier, progressed at the same rate as Sabo's. The two boys just didn't have the pure willpower or determination that Luffy seemed to be made out of. Though that wasn't to say that they weren't good at it, just that Luffy seemed to have a better hand with it.

With Rokushiki it was a lot different. As the name implied there were six different skills, plus a hidden seventh if someone mastered all six skills. Starting with the first skill, Geppou, all three boys had a bit of a rough start with it. This was because the fundamentals of Geppou required high leg strength which meant the boys had to train their legs a lot. After a few months of Garp's training hell for it, they managed to start learning Geppou. Geppou seemed to be a specialty among all three boys. Though it may have been due to the fact that all three boys thought it was cool that they could basically fly.

The second skill of the Rokushiki set was Tekkai. Garp had explained that Tekkai was inferior to Busoshoku Haki because you couldn't move while Tekkai was active. However, you could combine the two for devastating damage but you had to already be in motion for it to work. None of the boys really found a specialty in Tekkai due to its inferiority to Busoshoku Haki.

The next technique was Shigan, which all three boys also found really cool. Sabo and Luffy found this technique rather easy but Ace found it difficult. Every time he'd attempt to use Shigan he'd sprain his finger. Garp told him the problem was that he was putting too much power into the finger bullets. He had to steadily increase the power until his finger could handle it. After many painful sessions with Garp on control, Ace was able to use Shigan as well.

After Shigan was Rankyaku. This time, while all three boys found it cool, the only one who was able to use it to its full power, despite all three mastering it, was Sabo. Sure, the other two boys' air blades were pretty good but Sabo had been able to cut down thirty trees at once with his. Sabo was even able to somehow generate a Rankyaku attack with his hand which stunned Garp. Apparently, this attack was very similar to one of his son's Dragon Fist style attacks. The Dragon Fist style involved positioning your hand like a dragon claw and using it to attack. This style was really strong because the hand could crack skulls and armor. It was to Sabo's surprise that a week later after learning this he received a journal filled with notes by Dragon himself about the style. He vowed to make sure he learned it.

But back to the Rokushiki, they had then moved on to the next skill, Soru. The was that Garp explained Soru as kicking off the ground at least ten times in a blink of the eye confused Ace and Sabo. _Somehow_ Luffy was able to instinctively use it. Sure it wasn't as good as a high ranking Marine but it was still the beginners Soru. Though, Ace and Sabo were able to get it down in a bit of time, they weren't as good at it as Luffy was. They made sure to make it a rule that when they were playing games that Luffy was not to use Soru. Otherwise it'd be completely unfair for them.

The last Rokushiki skill before the hidden one was called Kami-e. Garp explained that this skill was extremely useful for Kenbunshoku users because it aided in dodging. Lo and behold, once again this skill was Luffy's specialty. Luffy was very easily able to 'turn' his body into paper and use it to dodge. Thankfully though, for both Ace and Sabo, the downside of both Kenbunshoku and Kami-e was that it failed if the opponent was unpredictable. So they just had to do such and be unpredictable in their attacks. Of course, it also failed if the opponent was faster than you but… Luffy had Soru on his side.

The hidden Rokushiki skill was called Rokuogan. This skill was very powerful because it could cause internal injuries that could potentially outright kill someone. However, Garp warned them that it was only to be used in desperate situations because it is a very draining attack and most people could only use it twice in a day without blacking out. He also warned that there was a downside to it. Unless you're close enough to your enemy you have to hope that they don't dodge the shockwave. Ace was the one who seemed to be pretty good at it but he didn't like using the skill much because of the severe draining effect it had on him.

Throughout the time till they left with Luffy Sabo started noticing something about himself and Ace. He realized that they were treating Luffy much differently than a person would treat their actual brother. He noticed that they'd often let Luffy cuddle up to them or snuggle with them and also occasionally bathe with him. The way that they looked at him didn't help either. Sabo slowly realized that it meant that they more than likely actually loved Luffy as something more than a brother. That prompted Sabo to drag aside Ace and have a conversation with him. The conversation was filled with Ace blushing and Sabo blushing occasionally as well. But in the end they decided if they were going to do anything they'd wait till Luffy hit sixteen or seventeen and then approach him. To be honest though, knowing Luffy he'd accept them regardless.

About a few months before they were going to leave, Luffy declared that they needed a flag.

"Uh, Lu, don't you need a crew name before you make the flag?" Ace asked.

"Shishishi! We already have a pirate crew name!" Luffy said laughing.

Ace and Sabo raised a brow at that.

"We do?" Sabo asked.

"Mhm! It's the ASL Pirates!" Luffy said eagerly.

Well… that was an interesting name. Of course, it was the exact same name as the crew name they had picked after they became brothers. Which ended up making Ace a bit curious.

"But you're the captain, why ASL?" Ace asked.

"Because! Ace and Sabo are special! They deserve to be part of the name too! It was either that or Straw Hat Pirates and I don't think I'm fond of being called that." Luffy said.

That grew a confused look on Sabo and Ace's face. Luffy was very fond of his straw hat, so why wouldn't he want to be called that. Sabo voiced that question, leaving Luffy to smile at them.

"Because! My Straw Hat's a promise! It's not what makes me, me! Ace and Sabo make me, me!" Luffy said.

Instantly Ace and Sabo turned bright red, causing Luffy to laugh a bit as they then hugged him tight. From there they started working on the design of their pirate flag. Sabo was the one who drew it since his drawing skills were much better than Luffy's and Ace's wasn't as good as Sabo's. The end result was a skull with a straw hat that had blue goggles on it, with the whole thing superimposed over a red spade. Written in an arc above the skull were the letters A, S, and, L to finish off their flag as the ASL pirates.

Soon enough though it was time for them to set sail. They had decided to set sail when Luffy turned fourteen rather than when Sabo turned seventeen. This was so it'd make Luffy less of a kid and closer to an adult. When they set off, everyone was there to see them off. Makino had gotten them the supplies they needed for the Attack Cuisine recipe minus the fish, as they could just go fishing whenever. Dandan, surprisingly as she wasn't one to part with it, gave them a barrel of good alcohol. She said that they could either drink it or use it to negotiate with someone, saying that she couldn't remember when a good bottle of alcohol didn't help a negotiation she had. The mayor grouched at them but they knew that he cared about them, especially when he handed them a box filled with different changes of clothing, as the man had been providing them with clothing.

By now, Ace was wearing an orange cowboy hat with a happy and sad smile face that he had found one day, an unbuttoned white shirt and brown cargo shorts. Sabo was wearing his top hat and goggles but had traded his blue jacket for a black one and his bright blue shorts for lighter blue pants and wore black boots now. Luffy wore a simple red vest and blue cargo shorts with his straw hat that now had a string sewn into it so it wouldn't go flying off. Even though you couldn't see it on any of the boys, each of them had a tattoo on their back. It was a giant tattoo of their pirate flag, an idea from Luffy that he _somehow_ managed to talk them into doing. Though, Ace had another tattoo on his left arm for some odd reason, that he never would explain to either Sabo or Luffy, that spelt out his name in black letters. Waving goodbye to everyone, they set off on their adventure.

 **Hopefully you guys liked this! That tattoo Ace has was done in one of Oda Sensei's drawings of a what-if scenario if Sabo had 'survived', showing that he'd still have his name tattoo'ed onto his arm. Anyways while the next island** _ **will**_ **be Shells Town, that's only because it's technically the closest island to Dawn Island. Luffy won't get his fruit till after that island but hey, it'll be interesting. As a fair warning I'll tell you straight out it's a Mythical Zoan and I got the idea for Donquixote Prince's fruit from this story. Suggestions are always welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry I got this out late today, I haven't slept so it didn't really hit me until now that today was Friday. As I said, TSABL won't be updated this week to let DP catch up so they're both at canon. This chapter covers Shells Town but it's a lot different since it's three years prior!  
Disclaimer: Don't own OP**

 **Decisions Over Tea**

As they were sailing on towards their first destination, which according to Sabo would be a place called Shells Town, the boys were eating a bowl of the soup. It was delicious but they knew that they were going to get sick of it pretty soon. Which brought them to their current conversation.

"So, Lu, who are we going to recruit first?" Ace asked, finishing his bowl of soup.

Luffy's face scrunched up in concentration before he answered.

"A swordsman!" Luffy said.

That caused Ace and Sabo to _almost_ face-fault. Almost because Sabo didn't feel like getting his soup all over him and Ace because he had enough of face-faulting from his narcolepsy.

"Don't you mean a cook?" Sabo asked.

Luffy shook his head at that. But he had a really good reason for that, really he did!

"I also studied the East Blue! And I found out that the best place to get a cook would be this floating restaurant called Baratie!" Luffy said.

"Then… why aren't we heading there first?" Ace asked.

Luffy gave Ace a deadpan look.

"Because Baratie's pretty far away. So, why worry about one now?" Luffy asked.

Ace grumbled, admitting that Luffy had a point there. If they were going to end up there sooner or late then it wouldn't be a problem. They could deal with fish soup until then. Sabo then chose to speak up.

"You guys might want to let me do the talking when we get to Shells Town." Sabo said.

Both of the other boys gave their top-hatted brother a confused look. Sabo sighed at them before answering.

"Shells Town is a Marine occupied town. I don't want us to be getting wanted posters right off the bat." Sabo said.

Luffy pouted at that but Ace was just staring at Luffy for a second before nodding. He didn't want any attention to be on Lu anytime soon. Ace then perked up as he got an idea to get Luffy's acceptance.

"Hey, Lu, just think of it like this. If you're a nice pirate maybe they'll share their meat with you. But you gotta let Sabo do the talking." Ace said.

Instantly Luffy started smiling and agreed with Ace. Sabo and Ace just laughed at Luffy, smiling as well. About a day or two later they crossed paths with a tiny fishing boat that had a pink haired kid in it. When the pink haired kid saw their boat he had a scared look on his face.

"Pirates! Don't hurt me!" The kid said.

All three boys gave a confused look at the kid.

"Hurt you? You haven't done anything to necessitate us hurting you." Sabo said.

"Yeah, what he said, but with less complicated words." Ace said, nodding.

Luffy nodded as well at that. The pink haired boy suddenly had a confused look instead.

"B-but you're pirates. Aren't you supposed to pillage and kill?" The boy asked.

All three of the boys gave him an odd look.

"No? Not all pirates are like that." Sabo said.

Luffy then decided to introduce himself to the kid.

"Hiya! I'm Luffy and this is Sabo and Ace!" Luffy said eagerly.

"Oh. Uh. I'm Coby." The kid said.

"Whatchya doing out here Coby?" He asked.

Coby gestured to his fishing equipment before speaking.

"I was heading out on a fishing trip. There was a group that was going to depart for a fishing trip but I missed them. So I went out on my own." Coby said.

"That's pretty brave of you." Ace said approvingly.

That seemed to cause Coby to blush.

"I-I don't know about brave. But I figured I gotta be confident if I want to be a Marine." Coby said.

Luffy perked up at that.

"Hey! We can make you a Marine!" Luffy said eagerly.

Ace and Sabo raised their brows at that but Coby got an eager look on his face.

"You can?! How?" He asked.

"Shishishishi! Our gramps is a Vice Admiral! Although he did say something about trying for Admiral, so he might be an Admiral now." Luffy said.

Before Garp had left he had told them to keep an eye out for certain people in the Marines. One of them was a man by the name of Sakazuki who was a Vice Admiral back then. Garp said he was going to aim for Admiral to deny the man the spot as Admirals had far more leeway when it came to doing things. When Luffy mentioned Garp to Coby the boy's eyes widened.

"B-but why are you guys pirates if your gramps is a Marine?!" Coby asked confusedly.

"Let's just say that for reasons not under our control we couldn't." Sabo said, wanting to go no further.

"Oh… okay. So… how would we do this?" Coby asked.

He was really eager to start being a Marine. The boys seemed to think for a minute before they answered, finally coming up with an idea.

"You could come with us! We're making our way to Shells Town, a place with a Marine Base. We could contact gramps there." Luffy said.

Once again Coby was confused at Luffy. But then again who wouldn't, they were pirates heading for a Marine base. Seeing the confusion, Sabo chuckled before easing it.

"We're heading there to ask around for directions." Sabo said.

"But aren't you afraid of being caught?!" Coby shouted in panic.

The three boys outright laughed at him for that question, causing him to shrink in on himself. Seeing this, Luffy just smiled at the boy.

"Not at all! Gramps said that East Blue's the weakest of the seas! So we won't have any problem!" Luffy said with a laugh.

"Oh… well I guess that makes sense?" He said, not really too sure of it.

So, after helping Coby move his stuff onto their ship they began to set off once more for Shells Town. It took them about a few days but in those few days they ended up running into a pirate crew. The captain of the crew was a rather fat woman called Alvida. Of course the trio had no trouble beating her, the problem was deciding who would fight. The woman, of course, was outraged when they did rock paper scissors to decide. Her outrage was ended rather quickly when Ace won and kicked her in the face, knocking her out. That scared her entire crew, making them run away. So, the three brothers were left with a tied up fat woman on their ship. The act of taking her captive was actually suggested by Coby who informed them that she had a bounty on her head of five million.

When they arrived at Shells Town they were met by a coalition of Marines. Sabo, however, stepped forward and spoke.

"We come in peace, we're here to ask for directions and turn in a criminal." Sabo said.

That garnered them a confused look before Ace shoved forward Alvida. The Marines then gained looks of recognition. So, one of them stepped forward to speak.

"Are you bounty hunters or pirates? At this point I can't tell." The man said.

"We're Pirates, sir. But we don't have a bounty at the moment and aren't really looking to make trouble for the Marines. Just to sail the sea." Sabo said.

The man seemed to think about it for a few seconds before he asked another question.

"Then why be pirates? Why not just sailors?" He asked.

"Ah, well, my brother here has a dream of being Pirate King, and you can't be that if you're not a pirate." Sabo said.

The man nodded at that but had a concerned look on his face when he noticed Luffy's age.

"But your brother seems to be rather young, isn't it dangerous for a kid like him? Especially since there are horror stories about the Grand Line." The man said.

Sabo shook his head, shushing Luffy before the boy could pout about being underestimated.

"Not at all, we were trained by our gramps who, despite wanting us to be Marines, agreed to allow us to be Pirates." Sabo said.

"Oh? Who's your gramps?" The man asked, thinking he might know the person.

Sabo gave the man a smile, knowing that the information would shock him.

"Ah, you might know him as Garp the Hero, he's not me and Ace's blood gramps but he is our little brother Luffy's." Sabo said.

The reactions on all of the Marines' faces was absolutely hilarious. Their eyes bugged out with their mouths gaping wide at them. The man who was chosen as the spokesperson was stuttering now.

"Y-your gramps is Admiral Shiroinu?" The man stuttered.

Luffy smiled widely at that.

"So gramps _did_ become an admiral!" Luffy said with a laugh.

Stunned, the man nodded before answering.

"Yeah, rumor is, after returning from vacation he walked up to Sengoku and asked for the promotion. Since he's been offered the position a lot, they outright gave it to him over a newer candidate, someone named Sakazuki. So the current Admirals are Shiroinu, Aokiji, and Kizaru." The man said.

Ace smiled at that, seeing that shitty gramps actually did keep his promise to make sure that man didn't get the position. Figuring that the boys were telling the truth the man decided to let them land. From there he led them through the village. As he did this Sabo was asking questions.

"So, what's going on here?" Sabo asked, wondering why the Marines were so mobilized at this town.

"We're getting a new transfer today. They say he's a successful Marine, having captured Kuro of a Hundred Plans. So we're getting everything ready for a party." The man said, having introduced himself earlier as Ripper.

The three boys however had a confused look on their faces. While they knew of people with bounties, they really only knew the larger bounties. And from their memories the man mentioned wasn't one of them.

"Uh? Who's that?" Ace asked, speaking up.

The Marines seemed to be shocked at that.

"You don't know of Kuro? He's the captain of the Black Cat Pirates." Ripper said.

Sabo sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm sorry, the only bounties we've memorized are the ones that are over a hundred million, like the Jinbe, the Knight of the Sea's bounty of two hundred and fifty million." Sabo said.

Ripper aahed at that before he continued on.

"Well, you won't find anyone with a bounty that high in East Blue, especially considering it's the weakest of the Blues. At most you'll find is twenty million, which is held by Arlong of the Arlong Pirates. He's been rumored to have been seen in this area." Ripper said.

Before he continued, he noticed that a little girl had dropped her ice cream and was crying. Ripper knelt down and gave the girl some Belli to buy a new one. The little girl smiled and thanked the man before heading on. The three boys smiled at that, as well as Coby.

"That was nice of you." Sabo said.

Ripper just smiled at them before he continued to lead them towards the base.

"It's no problem. The town folk here look up to us, so it's our job to make them happy. Plus, I have a little sister at home, so I couldn't see that girl sad." Ripper said.

Ace and Sabo looked fondly at Luffy after the man said that. Although, their affections for Luffy _did_ go deeper. But like they said, they would do nothing until Luffy was older. Though, they were sure Luffy would accept.

"So, what was that Kuro guy's bounty?" Luffy asked, interested.

Ripper seemed to pause before digging into his pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Luffy who unfolded it. It turned out to be a poster of a black haired man with glasses and claw like weapons on his hands. Below the name was a bounty of sixteen million Belli.

"I thought you said bounties weren't that high in East Blue?" Coby asked.

"I also did say there were exceptions. Kuro was one of them. He lived up to his epithet, as he was able to plan his way out of anything. But somehow Morgan managed to capture him." Ripper said.

Ace however had a disbelieving look on his face about that.

"How do you guys know that the man actually did defeat Kuro?" Ace asked.

Ripper raised a brow at that.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, what if the man is lying, and the man you caught wasn't the actual Kuro." Ace said.

That just seemed to confuse Ripper even more. Sabo sighed at that before answering, planning to fix the confusion.

"What my dear brother is trying to say, is that if Kuro really had a plan for everything then the capture could have been planned. Was there anyone on Kuro's crew that could do anything that would help?" Sabo asked.

Ripper thought about it before his eyes widened for a second.

"Yeah, actually. There was a man on Kuro's crew called Jango. The man was a hypnotist and a really good one. He could hypnotize anyone into believing anything. If I recall in one fight he hypnotized the crew into becoming much stronger." Ripper said.

Sabo nodded at that before he spoke up.

"There's your proof of doubt. If they managed to find someone who looked like Kuro then they could have hypnotized him into believing he was Kuro and hypnotized Morgan into believing he caught Kuro." Sabo said.

Luffy's face was scrunched up in confusion at the whole conversation. While he wasn't dumb, he just had difficulty following a conversation that he wasn't part of for a long period of time. Ace, seeing Lu's confusion ruffled his hair and smiled at him.

"Lu, basically the guy could have done a cowardly thing and made someone else take his place." Ace said.

Luffy aahed before frowning.

"Cowards are stupid." Luffy said, causing Ace and Sabo to smile at him.

Ripper however was groaning about how troublesome this was going to be.

"The man who's supposed to be Kuro is set to be executed in a few days here. What are we supposed to do?" Ripper sighed.

Sabo however had a solution to the entire problem.

"I, uh, may have dabbled in hypnotism when I was younger. I _could_ try to see if I could break the hypnotism." Sabo said with a light blush on his cheeks.

Ace and Luffy were sniggering at Sabo because they remembered when the boy had been trying hypnotism. Sure, Sabo could do it well enough but the problem was that when he had first started he ended up hypnotizing himself more often than not. Now though he could do it without hypnotizing himself but it still brought up interesting memories. Ripper however ignored that and smiled at Sabo.

"That'd be wonderful, but what if it fails?" Ripper asked.

"Well, you could always let him go and have him attempt to fight like Kuro." Ace said.

Everyone looked at Ace with a confused look at that. Ace blushed a bit before he spoke again.

"Ah, well, Kuro had a unique fighting style right?" Ace asked.

Ripper nodded but didn't know where Ace was going with this.

"Yeah, Kuro could move at superhuman speeds but he couldn't exactly control it." Ripper said.

Huh, that sounded oddly like Soru. Which gave Ace an idea.

"Actually, it might be better to have him try to fight like Kuro." Ace said.

"What? Why?" Ripper asked.

Sabo's eyes widened as he realized what Ace was getting.

"Because, if his body can't handle the speed it'll tear his legs apart and that'll prove he's not Kuro because Kuro could handle the speed." Sabo said.

Ripper's eyes then widened as well at that. It was a perfect idea but the problem was making sure that the man didn't attack other people. Ripper brought this up to everyone.

"Well that shouldn't be a problem, Lu here could easily make sure of that, trust us." Ace said, looking proudly at Luffy.

Luffy just grinned widely at that, accepting the praise. Ripper shrugged, deciding to put further trust in the pirates. I mean, he could feel that they were much stronger than they looked. So, Ripper led them into the base where they took them to his superior's office. The office was modest looking with tiny awards on a shelf and a bunch of books on a bookshelf. Sitting at the desk was an average looking woman who looked up when they entered.

"What's with these pirates Ripper?" The woman asked.

"I'm sorry mam, but they're here to turn in a pirate, Iron-Mace Alvida to be specific. Also, they have brought up a problem we didn't consider with Kuro." Ripper said.

The woman's eyebrow rose at that. She looked behind them and saw that they indeed had brought Alvida, the fat woman tied up behind them. She then threaded her fingers before speaking.

"What is this _problem_ you speak of?" She asked.

"Well, they brought up the fact that the man we have may have been hypnotized by Jango, the hypnotist of Kuro's crew." Ripper said.

The woman hummed before she seemed to think about the suggestion.

"Do you have a way to prove that?" She asked.

"They said to let the man try to fight like Kuro. They also said that they could take care of the man if he tries to attack everyone else." Ripper said.

Once again she raised her eyebrow at Ripper.

"And you believe them?" She asked.

"Well, they say that the youngest is related to Admiral Shiroinu and I have to admit there is a resemblance in attitudes." Ripper said.

Her eyes widened slightly at that before she nodded.

"Alright we'll try this plan of yours but to make it more safe we'll do it in a more secure room." She said.

The woman then got up and led them through the building. It didn't take them long before they reached the lock-up area of the base. When the three boys saw the man in the cell they could tell something was off with the man. For one, he didn't exactly resemble Kuro completely. The way the man's structure was, was all wrong compared to Kuro. Nevertheless they grabbed the man and led him to one of the training rooms. When they got there the woman explained to him what they were doing. He acted snooty and said that he was definitely the real Kuro. They just rolled his eyes and told him to try fighting like he usually did.

"You asked for it." The man said, having been uncuffed.

He started swaying before he vanished. But when he vanished there was a ripping sound and the man was suddenly howling on the floor in pain as blood was pouring from his legs. Ripper and Coby were gaping at the injured man on the ground.

"Welp, that proves it. His legs couldn't even handle the speed that he was trying to force it to undergo." Sabo said.

"But that brings up the topic of where the real Kuro is." The woman said with a sigh.

Sabo just smiled before speaking.

"I promise that if we run into him we'll turn him in for you." Sabo said, Ace and Luffy nodding.

The woman seemed speculative for a few minutes before she nodded.

"Alright, normally we don't trust pirates but so far you've been helpful. Follow me." She said after telling the Marines who had gathered to take care of the injured imposter.

She led them back to her office where she dug through her desk until she pulled out a Den Den Mushi. She then handed it to Sabo.

"If you run into Kuro then give that a ring. It's connected to the one at our superior's base in Loguetown." She said.

Sabo gracefully accepted the Den Den Mushi, nodding at her instructions.

"What should we say when we ring it? I doubt they'd be happy that a pirate had hold of their Den Den Mushi." Ace asked.

Nodding at Ace's insight she wrote something down before handing it to Ace.

"This is a code we use specifically for pirates that help the Marines. Just tell Captain Smoker that code and tell him that Lieutenant Jenny of the Shells Town branch gave you the Den Den Mushi." She said.

The three boys nodded before Luffy remembered something.

"Oh yeah! We came here for two reasons! Uh, first…" Luffy started before shuffling over to Coby.

Luffy then shoved Coby forward, making him stutter and blush as he was presented in front of the Marine.

"Coby here wants to join the Marines! We figured we'd give him to our gramps to turn into a Marine! We couldn't join for personal reasons but figured he'd want a protégé." Luffy said.

The woman nodded before giving Coby a look.

"Do you really wish to join the Marines? The training is harsh, especially under Admiral Shiroinu if the rumors I've been told are true." Jenny said.

Coby didn't say anything for a few seconds before he suddenly gained a determined look on his face.

"Of course! It's my dream to become a Marine and catch pirates like Alvida! I want to be an Admiral one day!" Coby said.

The woman gave Coby a calculative look before suddenly grinning at him.

"That's the perfect attitude for the Marines, kid. Ah, what am I supposed to say to get Shiroinu's attention?" The woman asked the boys.

"Shishishi! Just tell gramps that Luffy, Ace, and Sabo have a student for him. We kinda did promise him one." Luffy said laughing.

The woman nodded before realizing something.

"You said that you had another reason for being here, what's that?" She asked.

Ace, deciding to speak this time, stepped forward.

"Ah, we need directions to a place that we can find a reliable swordsman for our crew." Ace said.

Jenny nodded before ruffling through the papers on her desk. She read through the various reports before she seemed to find what she was looking for.

"Aha! Here it is. A report from one of my subordinates says that there's a village on Taiyou Island with a dojo dedicated to swordsman. From what he said they're pretty good." She said.

"What's the name of the village?" Sabo asked, wanting to get as much information as possible.

She skimmed the report before speaking.

"According to him, the name of the village is Shimotsuki Village and the dojo you're looking for is the Isshin Dojo." She said.

Sabo then asked for directions to the island. The woman gladly wrote down the directions they had to take from Shells Town with the compass. Luffy however whined a bit.

"Too bad it's not like the Grand Line, it'd be soooo much easier." Luffy whined.

The woman's eyes widened at the thought of someone thinking the Grand Line would be easier.

"What in the Blue makes you think navigating the Grand Line would be easier?" She asked, astounded.

"Because! In the Grand Line you have to use a compass called a Log Pose. And there's a variant of the called the Eternal Pose. It's permanently locked onto an island and helps you navigate to it." Luffy said.

The woman seemed really interested in it and asked for more information about these Log Poses.

"Do you know how they work?" She asked.

Luffy's face scrunched up in concentration as he thought to remember the specific details. Log Poses were among the first things Luffy learned about the Grand Line so it took him a while to remember. Thankfully though, he managed to.

"Oh yeah! In the Grand Line, each island has its own magnetic field which messes with normal compasses. The Log Pose is designed to lock onto a magnetic field of an island and point you towards it. Eternal Log Poses are permanently locked onto an island." Luffy said.

The woman nodded at that, very interested in the information. But she had a question.

"Permanently locked?" She asked.

"Mhm, when you reach an island that the Log Pose is locked onto the needle attunes itself to the island. After a certain amount of time, that differs per island, the Log Pose will latch onto another magnetic field. It continues like this until you reach the New World, the second half of the Grand Line." Luffy said.

That seemed to confuse the woman even more.

"What happens there?" She asked.

"Ah, well in the New World the Log Pose is prone to changing mid-course, so you need a New World Log Pose that has three needles. From there it's up to a navigator's intuition to navigate from place to place." Luffy said.

The woman then thanked him for the interesting conversation. She then told them that the bounty for Alvida will be processed and they can pick it up later in Loguetown where the Bounty Office was. She gave them a piece of paper to hold onto for when they arrive there. The Marines then waved them goodbye as the trio left and made their way for Taiyou Island where they'd hopefully pick up a swordsman.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed it! As for me I'm heading to bed, I'm exhausted. Suggestions are always welcome!**


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